Memories Popeye's Sea Stories

[bdpopeye]

Hey ship me over give me some bennies...

Me shipping over..


Popeye shipping over aboard Fightin' Hanna in May 1975


Popeye signing the re-enlistment papers at HSL-31 NAS North Island November 1980


Popeye re-enlisting at NAF Diego Garcia SEP 1985

 

[bdpopeye]

From DEEP within the Popeye archives! AAARRRVVV!!!



bomb farm aboard JFK August 1973



Air Missile Division aboard JFK in September 1972. I'm to the far left looking across the space.



Popeye taking a break aboard JFK in May 1973.



AO3 Armenta in the bomb farm aboard Midway summer of 1974.



USS Midway(CVA 41) island summer of 1974



popeye sitting on an INERT Standard Arm missile aboard Midway summer of '74. See that watch I have on? My ex-brother-in-law still has that watch and it works...it's a Seiko.

 

[bdpopeye]

My navy days in a nutshell..

JFK..Big John..The head of the MED
Midway..the Magic
Hancock..Handjob or The Fightin' Hanna
NAS Cubi Pt.. da' PI
HSL-31
VS-33 deployed on America
HC-11
NAF Diego Garcia
NAS Miramar AIMD
deployed on Nimitz as part of Miramar AIMD SEAOPDET

7 deployments..I count the Midway as two..

First time I was ever on vultures row I saw an SH-2 Sea Sprite crash

Some ship mate jumped off the f'scle on the JFK while in Palma Spain 1972

Two more boneheads jumped off the ship while leaving Athens GR 1972.

Midway was the first CV homeported overseas since the Antietam(CV 36) after WWII

On October 23rd 1973 4 aircraft crashed at sea and 7 aircrew men were lost from the Midway;

An SH-3G helicopter assigned to HC-1 crashes off MIDWAY's bow on take-off for an SAR mission. All three crew on board are killed. The helicopter was supposed to get underway to the crash site of two other MIDWAY aircraft that had a mid-air collision. Involved in the mid-air collision were an A-7A (VA-56) and an EA-6A (VMCJ-1). This collision killed all three crew of the aircraft involved.
Operation Eagle Pull & Frequent Wind on CVA-19

Got to meet the Air Boss on the Hanna up close and personal.

Saw an A-7 crash at NAS Cubi PT going 450 knots so they say.

Saw the CO of Cubi relieve the CO of an USMC Harrier squadron on right at Red Label at Cubi PT . ask me why.

Typhoon Olga Philippine 1976..67 inches of rain in one week.

HSL-31 was too cool.. we had a 4 day work week.

VS-33 deployed on the America in 1981

1981 USS America CV-66 transited the Suez. the first CV to do so since 1966

Three beer days on CV-66..only 17 days liberty in 7 months.

On Diego Garcia two or three boneheads from the Super(Sinkin') Sara stole an ambulance, wrecked it..they never did get caught.

On the Nimitz an A-6 Crashed just as were were pulling in Subic

I made three trips around the World and visited 22 countries plus Guam, Okinawa, Hawaii, Alaska, US Virgin Island ,Puerto Rico..etc..etc..in 20 years time.

I'm a Shellback (crossed the equator)... August 1981 on the USS America on our way to Perth AUS..

I'm also a bluenose ..on the JFK as we crossed the Arctic Circle during Strong Express (NATO) in September 1972

I was in the real Navy. Period.

 

[bdpopeye]

All members feel free to comment on these stories..


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GREAT LAKES, Ill. (Jan. 9, 2012) Navy recruits call their families in the Golden 13 Recruit In-Processing Center at Recruit Training Command (RTC) during Night of Arrival. The phone call home lets family members know the new recruits have made it safely to RTC. . (U.S. Navy photos by Scott A. Thornbloom/Released)

Yep I guess this is what Great Lakes..aka Great Mistakes looks like now..ahh the first night in boot camp.. such fun..There sure were NO FEMALES there when I went to boot camp in '71. In fact the USN had three locations for Boot Camp. San Diego, Orlando & Great Lakes. The females went to Orlando. That's right Orlando FL. That base was open from 1968 to 1995.

When I joined we got sworn in at the Federal building in Cincinnati OH. My pops was there to see me off. They loaded us on a "short bus" an took us to the airport. We had been told when we get to Chicago report to the USO(I think) and they would tell us what to do. We got there did as told and were informed to wait and the next bus to Great Lakes did not leave for a few more hours. So they told us where to hang out and gave us each a $10 food voucher good at certain restaurants at O'Hare. The food was great by 1971 standards to a black kid from the Avondale ghetto in Cincinnati.

After a few hours ...finally we got on the bus. Made it to Great Lakes and I was surprised that no senior persons were yelling at us when we arrived. It was just another recruit doing "service week" But we did not know. It was late..they gave us uniforms..bedded us down in an old barracks. We heard all kinds of wild stories about what was going to happen to us. None turned out to be true except The barracks we stayed in was just temporary. The next day it was haircuts and an alleged physical and swim test. Finally on the third day we were sent over to RTC to an much nicer barracks. I remember being given the "General orders of a Sentry" and having to memorize that bad boy. I remember staying up and memorizing by the light shining in the barracks.

The main thing I remember about Boot Camp was those huge drill halls and having to sing Anchors Aweigh as we marched through this tunnel that divide RTC from NTC. Another thing was that I caught pneumonia and spent 4 days in the hospital. Most times when that happens you set ASMOED..administrativaly reassigned..set back in other words. Not popeye. My company commander gave me the answers for the test we had to take that week to move on to the next week and I with my fantastic memory I memorized the test and passed. In fact I deliberately blew two question to make it look real.

Once myself and others were sent to NAS Glenview for an eyesight exam to be an air traffic controller. Which I failed. Some SEABEES drove us and bought us some beer to consume during the trip back to NTC/RTC.. They stopped in front of someones house to toss the beer cans in their trash cans but bumped into a tree as they sped off. Dunno how they explained that. By the way those SEABEEs drank all the way over to the NAS and on the way back. Those SEABEEs were on medical hold at the Naval Hospital.

Boot camp was nine weeks long. And when you are there it seems so much longer than that. Especially when you are 17-18 years old..Oh yeah I had my 18th birthday in boot camp. Sept.23rd 1971. At that time I had no idea I would serve the US Navy for 20 years......oh so long ago in a Navy very far,far away...

 

[bdpopeye]

When I retired from the USNon August 31st 1991. I had no ceremony...nuthin'... It was my choice...a move that I regret to this day. Stupid on my part. I just did not want all that sentiment drooling all over me...

I was allowed to "check out" in civvies.. I got in my car and drove 15 miles home...

*************************************************************************************
As I've mentioned before I was stationed in the Philippines in '75-'77. I worked at the Weapons Depy at NAS Cubi Pt. One of our work centers was the Target shop. We had to supply AQM-37 target drones when ever there was a target shoot as conducted by VC-5. This did not happen very often..

We had an AO2 AM and a couple of airmen working in that shop and needless to say they sometimes got bored. At one time they had a mini zoo in the target shop consisting of lizards and snakes and other reptiles. In the PI you need be careful of those larger lizards many of them are poisonous. One day AO2 AM had the bright Idea of shooting some of these critters in rockets skyward. Sooo.. He saw an ad in a comic book for some rockets. And he ordered them and received them in a couple of weeks. In the meantime he had caught a small rat and decided that would be his first victim err I mean astronaut. So AO2 AM and his boys set up a few rockets to see how high they go. They really don't go that high but high enough for his use. So he had saved the largest rocket for this poor little rat. He even made a parachute for the rat. Stuffed the poor little critter in the top of the rocket. Attached the nose cone and fired that bad boy off. Needless to say the parachute did not work and the poor little rat came plummeting to Earth. AO2 AM picked up the barely alive rat..feeling sorry for it he fed it to one of his larger lizards..

I later found out that AO2M retired from the USN as a AOCM a Master Chief..(E-9)

No foolin'!

*************************************************************************************

I was on CVA-19 we had 600lb "M" boilers were a piece of crap. We were breaking down on a regular basis. Our evaporators sucked too. At times we un-reped water. But almost always had enough steam for the cats.

During REF-TRA (refesher training) in January of '75 some boilers went off line and we had to put into NAS North Island for repairs. As soon as we pulled in we had a Zone inspection as always on the Hanna. The word was passed that we would be in port only a day and liberty was restricted and expired at 2200 that evening! Well that sucked. We spent 6 days in San Diego always planning to get underway the next day. We finally got underway on a Saturday or Sunday believe it or not.

One day myself and AO2 WG standing on the flight deck behind the island and spotted some young lovelies on the "Quay wall"(dock/pier). AO2 WG shouted out to one of them that caught his eye..."Hey baby..what's your name?"..she responded "My name is Pay Day!"..Ouch ! That hadda hurt!

The problem with Hanna she'd been traversing the Pacific Ocean for Thirty one years with only one major re-fit. She was broken frequently.

USS Hancock CVA-19 earned four battle starts for action in the Pacific during WWII and five battle stars for service during the Vietnam War.

Hancock had the proudest crew of any ship I served aboard...period.

We called her Fightin' Hanna.. she was the Queen of the Sea.

 

[bdpopeye]

Here's another pic for you gents...An R/A-5C Vigilante of "Heavy 12" on the flight deck of the JFK in 1973. We were in port in the MED..somewhere when I took this photo...



R/A-5C Vigilante of RVAH-12 "Speartips" aboard the USS John F Kennedy (CVA-67) in the MED.. circa 1973...Photo credit to bd popeye

 

[bdpopeye]

The USN in recent years has lost few aircraft..better safety is practiced these days.

I was aboard the Midway only two months when this tragedy struck..

An SH-3G helicopter assigned to HC-1 crashes off MIDWAY's bow on take-off for an SAR mission. All three crew on board are killed. The helicopter was supposed to get underway to the crash site of two other MIDWAY aircraft that had a mid-air collision. Involved in the mid-air collision were an A-7A (VA-56) and an EA-6A (VMCJ-1). This collision killed all three crew of the aircraft involved.

.. a total of seven aircrew dead that evening. The Midway was ordered immediately to her home port of Yokosuka Japan for an investigation.

Back then any bodies recovered were placed in a giant refrigerator below decks and shipped back to the states. Normally a memorial service was held. Now-a-days it's the same other than the memorial service would be larger.

As for burial at sea that's only done upon the family request or service member request.. Most burials at sea are former service members that requested burial at sea long ago.

In 1972 aboard the JFK we lost several aircraft...

On April 8th 1972 Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) 3d Class Mark W. Raymond of VA-34 died in an A-6 canopy accident. Two days later, the carrier hosted Operation Rivets, the retirement ceremony for Admiral Horacio (“Rivets”) Rivero.

Only five days after the canopy accident that claimed the life of AM3 Raymond, an A-6 crashed during a conventional ordnance exercise on 13 April 1972, and a search and rescue effort ensued for Lieutenant (j.g.)s William T. Hackman and David L. Douglas, without success. Two days later, however, debris from the missing Intruder was sighted near the Avgo Nisi target range.

CVW-1 lost three more aircraft (two from VA-72) before the year was out. The first was an A-7 (BuNo 154386) to hydraulic failure on 20 May 1972, with Lieutenant Bernard J. Hedger, from VA-72, being rescued by an HH-2D flown by Lieutenants LeRoy E. Hays and Roy E. Hey, with Aviation Structural Mechanic (Structures) 3d Class F. L. Barthold and Aviation Machinist’s Mate (Jet Engine Mechanic) 3d Class G. H. Trouton, as crew. The second was an HH-2D Seasprite (Angel 013) to a lost tail rotor on 11 June, its four-man crew (Lieutenants Larry E. Crume and James R. Palmquist, Aviation Machinist’s Mate (Jet Engine Mechanic) 3d Class Kent D. Swedberg and Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) Airman Richard F. Diaz) being rescued by Angel 010 flown by Lieutenants Hays and James C. Harrison, with Aviation Machinist’s Mates (Jet Engine Mechanic) 2d Class David T. Warmkessel and James C. McDonald as crew. The third was another Corsair (Decoy 401) due to a stall spin, on 27 June, with Lieutenant (j.g.) Newton R. Gaines, also of VA-72, being rescued by Angel 010 (Lieutenant Palmquist and Lieutenant Commander Lawrence B. Kauffman, with Swedberg and McDonald as crew), with British guided missile destroyer HMS Antrim providing wind velocity data to the inbound helo.

Aboard America in'81 we lost zero aircrfat and zero personnel.

On the Nimitz in '91 we lost only one aircraft an A-6E Prior to entering Subic Bay..on the America in '81 we lost no aircraft..however an Tomcat did crash on the flight deck shearing off it's starboard landing gear.

 

[Bombardier]

a total of seven aircrew dead that evening

A severe blow brother, the ship must have been a solemn place that day
RIP to all the souls lost

 

[bdpopeye]

A severe blow brother, the ship must have been a solemn place that day
RIP to all the souls lost

It was silent most everywhere aboard. We got back to Yokosuka and stayed inport for 21 days..unheard of at that time. We went over all the safety regs..safety, safety.. safety...Even though only aircrew along with their aircraft were lost. Well after the 21 days we went back to sea just like nothing happened...Carrier Air Wing Five lost three more aircraft thru July '74 along with three more pilots. All three were A-7s from VA-93...

Two U.S. Navy Ling-Temco-Vought A-7B Corsair II´s (BuNo 154485, 154455) of Attack Squadron VA-93 "Blue Blazers", Carrier Air Wing 5 (CVW-5), from the USS Midway (CVA-41) flying over the carrier in the early 1970s.
circa 1970-1974

 

[bdpopeye]

Today ,March 24th 2018 is an anniversary of sorts for me. Today s the 46th anniversary of me arriving aboard the USS John F Kennedy (CVA-67) my first ship a beautiful resort type of island. She was anchored out in Rhodes Greece. We hadda take a liberty launch out to the ship. It looked so massive. Impressive. Awesome. But what's more awesome is actually serving..especially in retrospect..

That day started early for me. I flew in a C-130 from Rota SP to Naples Italy. Then on to Sigonella Italy. Next and last stop Rhodes Greece. We had started out at about 06:30 by the time we got to Rhodes it was about 2100(9pm) or so. we took a harrowing bus ride in a Mercedes Benz bus down to fleet landing. Like I stated we had to take a liberty launch out to the JFK. The ship looked so massive. She was all lit up. Impressive..most impressive...my boot camp butt was wondering how I would ever find my way around the ship. The liberty launch tied up at deck house 4..on the fantail. I wrestled my gear to the afterbrow and reported aboard. We were taken through the Jet shop into the hangar. The hangar deck was empty. All the aircraft were neatly spotted on the flight deck. All of us ships company non-rates were assigned immediately to mess cook division aka S-2M. Since it was Friday night we did not have to check in until Monday. That was the very liberal 1972 USN...Oh so long ago in a Navy far far away...

 

[bdpopeye]

As I've mentioned many times online USS John F Kennedy(CVA-67) was my favorite ship. I made many a post about that ship. Many Sailors will really understand the below post I made in a yahoo group about 15+ years ago.

Man...To be able to walk those decks just one more time...just one more time. I'd love to see that cold gray old girl just one more time...smell those shipboard smells..eat chow..tell sea stories...

I loved that ship..Memories of days long past.

Shipmates;
Skyboy, Slick, Monk, Rebel Smith, TG, Willie "O". Chief Chrome Dome, Bozo, Butch, Bullet Bob.& Lightin'..and all the rest..

Liberty call..."Kennedy expects to anchor at fleet anchorage Palma de Mallorica Spain at time 0900..Liberty will commence in accordance with the Plan of the day".

Norfolk, Portsmouth, Mayport, Palma, Barcelona, Malaga, Athens, Cannes ,Rota, Izmir, Rhodes, Genoa , Naples, Gaeta, Livrino...

Work..

The word was passed:
"Now muster the Charlie working Party abreast deck edge elevator #2 with Thomas CS2."

Ammo onload/off load, unreps, vertreps, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie working party....Flight quaters...and field day...

You knew we ordies were working when the word was passed;

"The smoking lamp is out from frames 68 to 88..165 to 195 second deck and below while handling ammunition."

Call me a sentimental old fool..I don't care..I love that ship.

It was my first..

Yep.. I was stationed aboard the USS John F Kennedy CVA-67..AM & G Divisions...Homeported at Naval Operating Base Norfolk VA.

I wuz a very young man then and I wuz in 'da real NAVY!....

=============================================================

Another story from my days aboard the JFK...

I was very fortunate when I was a mess cook(KP) for the first 100 days when I was aboard the JFK. I did not work in the galley. I worked for Cargo. We broke the chow out of the store rooms and refers below decks for the crew. The man I worked for was an real old salt. CS2 Thomas. Dude use to smoke big stinky cigars. He had broken service but had a total of about 18 years in and he was due to retire soon.... and he was happy to tell anyone about that! My man had hook ups all over the ship. From the laundry to the ships stores, ward room ,CPO mess he knew someone to get what ya needed.. Well when I reported to the ship even though I had not been trained other than boot camp he assigned me to Rescue and assistance detail. We had to assist the In port fire party or if some fool fell overboard in port we had to get in the Whale motor boat and try to rescue their dumb butt.

Any way we were anchored out inport in Palma de Mallorica Spain a beautiful place in July 1972. I had duty. But I wanted to go on liberty so I could have a few cold ones and enjoy the companionship of the friendly natives..in the gut...So what I would do is wait until the in port fire party drill is over..then have someone stand in for me while I went on liberty for about 3-4 hours..

So this day I did that. Went on liberty..headed straight to the gut..did my thing..more than once . Got drunk. Came back to the JFK. Drunk as a skunk. Told the shipmate that was standing by for me I'm back. I was hungry so I went down to the mess decks to enjoy some of that fine JFK cuisine. I was still loaded sat down for chow and I heard these words..

"Man overboard! Man overboard! Starboard side! Duty motor whale boat crew & rescue and assistance detail man the starboard motor whale boat!!"..Oh crap..So I stagger up to the hangar deck put on the helmet and the K-pock life preserver. We were mustered up I was still drunk and the duty motor whale boat was being lowered into the water. Then the saving grace of these words was passed.." Secure from man overboard"..Whew..that was a close call..I got sober real fast!

Seems what had happened was this ..Some drunks were on the F'socle skylarking around. This shipmate stuck his head out of a mooring line porthole to yell obscenities at the EOD team divers in a boat near the bow and then he fell through..or was pushed. Just so happened that the EOD divers were working over the side and rescued his dumb ass.

I never skipped out on my duty day again!

 

[bdpopeye]

March 24th 2018 is an anniversary of sorts for me. Today s the 46th anniversary of me arriving aboard the USS John F Kennedy (CVA-67) my first ship

In an incredible coincidence my grandson,poopeye, who is aboard USS John C Stennis(CVN 74) went to sea yesterday for the first time as CVN-74 sortied from Bremerton WA for training operations in preparation for deployment..

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AAAARRRVVV!!!

 

[command]

heh Popeye, just now figuring out how to post on this new forum. lot of reading to do but I have time.

 

[Bombardier]

Are you from TAARB @command

 

[bdpopeye]

heh Popeye, just now figuring out how to post on this new forum. lot of reading to do but I have time.

Hey welcome aboard! Another old geyser..like me. It's easy to post. You will figure it out....

Welcome aboard!

 

[Bombardier]

Are you from TAARB @command

Cancel my last, just seen your post in the TAARB landing page

 

[command]

heh I figured it out. Popeye, are you retired yet? Retired life ain't half bad.

 

[command]

@bdpopeye I just realized you went in the Navy in 1971 at age 17......as I was drafted into Uncle Sam's army in 1971 at age 24. I felt really old as in Basic combat training my upstairs bunkmate was age 17 like you....a difference of 7 years is a lot when one is that young. I hobbled along in runs and such with the young kids, even though I had stopped smoking cigarettes a few months before I went in to try to help my "wind" while running. (finally gave up the cigs for good in the mid 1980s and smoked cigars later)

 

[bdpopeye]

Retirement is wonderful!

I just realized you went in the Navy in 1971 at age 17......as I was drafted into Uncle Sam's army in 1971 at age 24.

Hey I remember that.

My old man story;

When I was aboard Nimitz in '91 for my final tour of sea duty making my seventh major deployment the young sailors called me "Sea Pappy" .. after Popeye's pop! Who's name was actually Poop Deck Pappy. I was only 37 years old...



Poop Deck Pappy.. Popeye's Pop!

 

[bdpopeye]

Just in case you did not know...

I just got this word on Saturday....My grandson ,poopeye, was sent temporary assigned duty to USS John C Stennis (CVN 74). Looks like he will be making the upcoming deployment. There is a shortage of his rating aboard CVN-74. He's an Operations Specialist otherwise known as a "Radarman". We use to call them scope dopes. I have no idea when CVN-74 will be deploying. But it will be soon..very soon.

In an incredible coincidence my grandson,poopeye, who is aboard USS John C Stennis(CVN 74) went to sea yesterday for the first time as CVN-74 sortied from Bremerton WA for training operations in preparation for deployment..